


The Beginning In The End

by madisondanes



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, F/M, Gen, Not Steve Friendly, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Related one shots, Tony Stark Centric, Tony centric, i am bitter as fuck, no bashing if it's the truth, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-28 18:18:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10836756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madisondanes/pseuds/madisondanes
Summary: post civil war. all one shots, with a reasonable and chronological timeline...Tony Stark is back bitches!





	1. waking up

First time ever publishing on the wonderful Ao3 site. kind of new and unexpected me writing essentially for iron man lol.

so this in not beta-ed, so sorry if you find any mistakes. and since i am not English but Italian, i hope it is somewhat a decent read. yes i am  bitter and i love, i mean LOVE bitter Tony. But, there are not enough of those around so this is for me a therapeutic way of working through my feelings and what i would like to happen but in no way in hell is MCU going to give us! so there it is.

I hope you guys like it.

 

**One week after Siberia**

**Helsinki**

**Secret medical facility ( ~~thanks Howard!)~~**

* * *

 

 

Well this was not his idea of fun.  Pain! Pain everywhere. His bones, his muscles, his head. A little blurriness left over? Check. Well at least he had not lost any of his limbs. That couldn’t be said for everyone else… he thought with a smirk. Hydra arm and the shield back at the secret SI facility in New York, thanks to an ever efficient Pepper.

Now, last thing he remembers? That fucking shield that’s what! Fucking red and blue staring at him. Then nothing. He remembers the sheer and cutting cold through his extremities. He remembers blurriness after capitan asshole started hitting him. He remember the asshole’s eyes.

He remembers every single thing and he will forever remember!

There was no forgetting it, nor there ever would be understanding from Tony Stark. He walked out with his boyfriend and that was it. And that was his choice and damn the consequences!

And now laying in the hospital bed, watching Pepper sleep in that incredibly uncomfortable chair, he decided that he also would make his choice and gladly deal with his consequences. He sighed again. It felt like a train was sitting on his chest, but the good doc, had told him that it was normal after the surgery he went through… so hit the pain meds button. He had tried to really not to, but the doc and Pepper had been adamant. _Don’t be a hero now_ , the doc gently said _._ As for Pepper _Do not dare bullshit me, Tony, you are in pain, do something about it, hit the damn button or else!_ That had done it!

The details of his rescue were still vague. He knew that Vision was the one to call in for the jet and Friday had called Pepper and was in constant contact with Rhodey. As for him, well.. crashed rib cage and all of that, a concussion, and a serious case of pneumonia, again thanks to Capitan asshole!!!

He had been out for almost a week. And waking up to the sight of Pepper was the warmest feel that he felt in the longest time. After, she had refused to leave him. SI would deal, she said. She knew how to delegate, she said. he knew that it was a jab at his total incapability of taking it easy and delegate.

Oh God, he had missed her like the oxygen.

From what he knew from one of the nurses assisting him in Helsinki, Zemo had been brought in, by the one and only king T’Challa, otherwise known from now on as asshole n. 2.

He was there, he realized and had not intervened once and had quite possibly left him there just like, and with, Rogers.

They had left him to die. With the suit disabled and the injuries that he had suffered in the freezing cold of fucking Siberia! 

And they well, they had escaped the raft. The rogue avengers, like they were being called now. He knew that asshole number one helped them a great deal. And if he was really, really honest with himself, he was kind of impressed by it. But then again he knew for a fact that Rogers by himself couldn’t have done it…he suspected that somebody with enough knowledge of super-secret security systems had helped the idiot out, thus making said person an idiot by association. His head hurt at the thought.

Well there it went his plan. If they had just stayed put for a little while longer. It’s not like they were being tortured or anything, and he had ready a full international lawsuit so good, that Ross himself would have been blown off the face of the earth, but nooo!! thay had to escape…  and now things would just be a little more difficult than they had to be. But, Tony thought, it was just like them, complicating, messing things up and at the end expecting Tony to somwhow magically fix it…

Well, he thought the Italians have a say “ _la speranza è l’ultima a morire”_ (hope was the last thing to die)… still his trade mark smirk back on his face.

Oh, yes… because If maybe, it was the Ptsd that had done it (yes he knew he had it, he was a genius, thank you very much) or Ultron and the sheer ever-present feeling of guilt, or whatever the witch had done to his brain chemistry that turned him into a doormat for arguably people of lesser… intelligence and knowledge… well suffice to say that now he felt awake, more than he had ever been. Now he understood what it was that he had to do.

Yes, Tony Stark was back! Well at least he would be after going home… now how about talking to a doctor to get out of here???


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> actions have consequences.  
> a hole in a rib cage...  
> a hole in a building...  
> one gets repaired, the other...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wrote this immediately after publishing the first chapter... so bear that in mind... may have mistakes, i am not English i am Italian and all that, i just hope it is, yet again, a decent read...
> 
> i hope you guys have fun with this one...

 

* * *

 

 

**A month later…**

**Avengers compound 8.30 am**

“Sir, Tony are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes Viz, I am sure. And are you ok with this? I know this has been your home… well since your birth “

“Yes, sir… uhm Tony, I am more than fine with your decision!”

“Then it’s decided. You’ll see the new compound will be EPIC! The designs alone… it’ll be great! New beginning Viz. it’s new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life..."

 _For me And I am feeling good…_ a passionate version of the song by  Nina Simone boomed from the from the speakers.

“very funny, Fry…”

“I do what I can boss!” how come that each AI that he creates  goes from sentient to outright sarcastic is a mystery to him. Or maybe not. He smiles at Vision, while walking him on the living room terrace.

“Alright, Viz time to go for you, I’ll see you back at the tower…”

“But… maybe you need company… I mean”

“Viz, I swear to you I am fine, now please…”

“Alright, sir but if you need…”

“go….now!”

“Alright!” And with that Vision was gone, direction New York city.

Well, hello attitude!

Tony sighed.  Was that the teenage phase that every parent talks about? or maybe more to the point were the terrible twos? His chuckled at that. He shook his head and turned around. “Fry still here?”

“yes Boss”

“do a scan please, make sure that everything is in place. We want minimum impact...”

“Yes, sir”

“And check the lab, I wouldn’t want to forget something important...”

“Yes, sir.”

He took a deep breath. This was the first thing he thought off while he was flying back from Helsinki. After a long talk (can you say long? Help me say LONG) with Pepper he realized that she had been right all along. And he was not that young anymore, extremis or not. Yes, extremis. Because he found out later, that Pepper had very little choice in either call doctor Cho for the extremis or let him die of heart failure. Not that he was out of the woods, he was not immortal and thank God, he was not a super soldier. He did look younger, but he didn’t exactly feel it.

And so it was, that he was talking to a therapist about this. Yes, he was going to therapy. A sixty something, Asian woman, ex Shield agent, that was recommended to him by the _redivivo_ (alive again ) Agent Coulson. Oh yes. The son of a bitch was alive and kicking and something about Tahiti that he didn’t exactly care to know. After  exchanging a few jabs, Agent Coulson had given him the number. He didn’t ask anything about what had gone wrong. He simply was there. Told him that Shield was alive and screaming, and that they should talk, whatever that meant.

And therapy was what had mended his relationship with Pepper. That and the fact that in the month he had been back he hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol.

And therapy is what brought him to this day. He hadn’t been in the compound, almost afraid of meeting old ghosts… and one night Pepper had suggested it. He paused with his hand full of popcorn, and had looked at her. And after a talk with a bossy therapist,  he had decided.

“Sir, everything is in order for minimum sound and environmental impact…”

“ you did good fry, and the lab…”

“Everything is exactly how you ordered!”

“Great…”

“Sir, about the personal effects…” a pause. Was he really going to do this? Oh yes he was, and laughing he answered his girl Friday.

“Leave them…”

“Yes boss…” His AI was positively happy it would seem.

“Vacating the premises and going on the predisposed spot for the best show in awhile…”

“Yes sir… transfer control to RX152TZ in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…”

“Good girl Fry.” Tony took the earpiece out of his chest pocket, positioned it on his right ear and then got out on the front door. “Fry you there?”

“ of course boss!”

“Any curious people around yet?”

“Yes sir, I do believe that miss Christine Everheart and 1 cameramen are one mile from the compound…you are still undetected to them though!”

“doing the leg work again I see, mrhiss Eveeart…” he said to himself, getting into his car, his trademark smirk planted on his face.   _La speranza è l’ultima a morire_ after all _“W_ ell, you can always count on the media when you need them… Fry let’s give them a show…”

“Of course Boss”

Tony, in his black convertible Audi,  made his way up the hill making sure he went undetected. He had not been in the public eye for a while and he wanted to control when and where he would return to it. So as per agreement with his CEO, a press conference would be organized and announced to take place the following morning.

Arrived at the spot, he parked the car, got out, and looked at the horizon… and his creation. His designs, his high tech home, away from home… with a determined look…

“ready Fry?”

“Yes boss… at your queue in 3,2,1,…”

“Light it up Fry…”

 

* * *

 

 

**Wakanda  8.30 pm**

**Royal palace**

**Secret Common Room**

They were eating dinner at the table, when a series of shushes had interrupted captain America from his storytelling. Natasha, who had unexpectedly helped them and switched teams at the last time, gave Clint a jab on his side to shut him, while silence enveloped the room…

_BREAKING NEWS_

_“Good evening, as you can see on your screen is showing our BREAKING NEWS strip because if we had any doubts, or hopes that the situation with the avengers could be resolved somewhat easily, at least if you have as an ally Mr. Anthony Stark, the latest turn of events doesn’t bode well for the fate of the rogue Avengers… from the U.S we have miss Everheart, you there?”_

_“Yes, hello… I am live from New York… I am speaking to you and situated with our truck  about a mile from where the infamous Avengers Compound was located and I say was, because as of two hours ago the compound was brought down, by what we imagine is a Stark demolishing technology._ (queue the video of the explosion) _Almost silent, no flames to be seen… we know, now that Tony Stark is back in the U.S. after having suffered from injuries, via SI official statement. And it was hinted as a rumor that Mr. Stark was in the process of making big decisions and big changes for himself and the brand, Avengers.”_

_“The brand? Avengers?” asked the wakandan journalist._

_“Yes, legally speaking, after the fall of Shield and the dumping of the very sensitive data to the internet, MR. Stark had in fact acquired the legal ownership of the brand, the gadgets, everything, not to talk about the relief found that also was funded by Mr. Tony Stark himself. The compound, which was the massive building that housed the members of the Avengers is also, property of Tony Stark._

_This immense field that you see behind me,  is  his property, so yes legally everything that is the Avengers Initiative is owned by Stark and as property laws dictates he can do whatever he wants with it and he did. The demolishing device that we think he allegedly used is thought to be the RX152TZ, a mechanism used to control demolish buildings in the middle of cities without causing further damage. It was used after the battle of New York, to clean the streets from the remains of the various damaged buildings and it’s being used by authorities ever since… SI just announced that Mr. Stark will hold a Press conference tomorrow morning… however it is with a somewhat heavy heart that it is my opinion that after what transpired with the now rogue Avengers and Colonel Rhodes’s injury and Mr. Stark decision to bring down the building, that like their compound, the Avengers are no more as of this morning at 9.00 am… this is Christine Everheart from WHiH World News”_

_“Thanks Christine! Moving on… the UN committee for the Sokovia accords will be meeting in Rome, Italy next week to discuss the development in the amendments…”_

Dead silence in the room, as Natasha Romanov, while watching his team mates look at the screen somewhat shocked, thought just one thing “Iron man yes, Tony Stark not recommended”. Well, fuck!

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what is that package?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first, thanks for the kudos, and the incredible comments... thank you very much!!! :)  
> now, again i am Italian, not English. there might be mistakes, actually there are going to be mistakes, that i still haven't noticed after reading this for the fifth time, and i sure as hell will notice after i post it... so please be gentle with me...Lol  
> ok, deep breathe... i don't know about this chapter. i do have a sort of plan here though... so i hope is still fun for you to read as it was for me writing it...

 

* * *

 

 

The press conference had gone off without a hitch. The media had been uncharacteristically in his favor, so to speak. Well a little more than normal, and if he was really honest with himself, it was freaking him out a little bit.

Gone was the bad boy Tony Stark. Welcome into adulthood, Mr. Stark!

Pepper had been so happy about that, that they had been able to have a lunch date without interruptions for once. No avengers hogging the tower as their personal pigsty, or no twenty something girl sneering at him or  and no constant berating from Rogers or Romanoff.

It was the most relaxed that he had been in a long while. And that state of relaxing lasted until after dinner. When the day after, Pepper hopped on a plane to Japan for a meeting, he had been in the lab trying to put together a design that would be good enough for Rhodey. And it wasn’t just that. If he could make it marketable, and affordable, it could change a lot of lives.  He still shook his head in wonder as to why he never thought of starting SI on a medical technology before…

After a good couple of hours of work  (he was pacing himself this days, heart condition and all that thank you very much!), he had checked on the spider kid. He sighed. He had a feeling that his gray hairs would do a comeback… extremis or no extremis.

After dinner, while sitting in the living room watching the Late Night Show, he noticed a package on the side table.  After asking Friday for a scan,  and deeming it not dangerous,  he opened it to find two of the most insulting and condescending things. A freaking flip phone and a piss poor excuse for an apology letter that he had ever the displeasure to read.

When he was five years old, one of the few time that his mother had been angry with him, he had broken an antique handmade Italian vase while playing in the music room, after he was repeatedly told not to play in that room. His mom had scolded him and sent him to his room without any toys. So Jarvis and Ana helped him write an apology letter. He remembers his mom looking at him, opening her arms and him falling in the hug… he still feels guilty about that vase after forty one years, as it represented the Amalfi port…it was beautiful.

And that poorly written letter that he wrote at the age of five, with all kinds of grammar errors, had more apology value than that sorry excuse of English writing.

And that flip phone…as if!!

Did he really, really think that he couldn’t trace the likes of them following the stench of betrayal all the way to the Wakandan Royal Palace??? Were they really so wrapped in their own bubble that they didn’t know who he was one tiny bit?

He had stared at that phone, and at that letter, and then again at that phone. He looked at the American stamp on the package… considering how long the postal service took, that son of a bitch had send it, give or take, two days after he was left to freeze in Siberia.

What was more astounding to him was that he really thought that Tony would call him??? Exactly what kind of expertise did Capitan America have that other super soldiers didn’t have?? The serum was created by Howard, the notes were in Tony’s possession. How long would it take to make tens of super soldier, better and less the asshole that was Capitan America? What had made him think that he was indispensable? Or special?

He could recreate vibranium in the lab if he so much desired! That is the perks of being a fucking genius! Not that he would actually do any of this things, but still! And if help was needed, he’d  rather ask Barnes for help then him, and that was saying something…

He was furious! But then he laughed, and continued laughing!

Hadn’t they gotten the message with the compound, “their” precious home, HIS property, or did they need a little reminder, just to drive the concept home? mh..

“Friday? Open file 2408B please…”

An hesitant pause from the AI “Boss? Isn’t that virus a little outdated??”

Tony swiftly ignored the AI “And prepare a copy for transfer…”

“Ok boss…” Friday sounded still a bit hesitant, not knowing exactly what Boss was going after…

“we are going to work on a relic Fry, let’s handle this with extreme care…”

 

* * *

 

 

**Wakanda- the day after**

**Royal palace – breakfast**

You could say that the Breaking news from two days ago, and the press conference given by Stark had put a damper on their mood.

People were angry, furious with them, and they still didn’t understand where all of this was coming from. Steve guessed that was the consequence of Tony playing the media game. He looked fine. Not somebody that apparently was on death’s door. Tony instead, had again manipulated public opinion. Steve was disappointed. The phone was still in his pocket despite what had happened in the last two days. He knew that Tony would need them at some point. And then they would go home. But home was gone now. Wanda had cried and raged, at Stark. That was their home. How selfish could Stark be? He had to keep it together so that the team would not explode when Stark finally called, and  maybe his apology would have to be enough for when the world cried for the avengers to save them once again… after all he would be right and Tony would be wrong. No sense in being petty…

Silence was still defining while they were eating their breakfast. When an unfamiliar ding, almost like the old Nokia text message notice, broke the silence, they all looked up to see where the sound was coming from, and almost too good to be true, it was that damn flip phone.

Everyone froze on the spot. Could it be, really? Had Stark really gotten his head out of ass? Clint sat back, while Natasha was looking around to see everyone’s reaction. There was a red aura coming from Wanda. but while everyone’s reaction was of wonder, and righteous satisfaction, unexplicably she felt a sense of dread.

Steve had took it out of his jeans pocket and put it on the table next to his plate. He never expected a phone call, nor a text message. Maybe Tony was seeing the light, he thought, while the thing continued beeping and flashing.

“Would you please open the thing, this beeping it’s doing my head in! even a text message from Stark is annoying as him!” Clint said, while Wanda, Sam, and Scott all nodded their head almost in synchro. Natasha rolled her eyes and made the gesture for Steve to open the phone to see what Stark wanted…

All of a sudden Stark voice boomed in the room startling the whole team …“ _REALLY? A FLIP PHONE!? IS THAT YOUR IDEA OF A JOKE, OR ARE YOUR NEURONS TOO FRIED TO HAVE HAD THIS IDEA ALL BY YOUR SORRY SELVES? AND EXACTLY WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT I DON’T KNOW WHERE ALL OF YOU BRAIN DEAD PEOPLE ARE HIDING LIKE THE RATS YOU ARE… (_ **TONY STARTS SPELLING)** _W.A.K.A.N.D.A. GUESS WHAT THAT SPELLS??? NOW SINCE THIS IS WHAT YOU CHOSE TO DO,  AND THAT’S FINE, IT’S YOUR PREROGATIVE,  it is also as my prerogative AS THE GROWN MAN THAT I AM, WITH A PAYING JOB AND RESPONSIBILITIES AND SUCH (NOT THAT YOU WOULD KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE SORT OF THING), I AM MAKING MY OWN CHOICES.  AND THAT BEGINS WITH… ( **STARK LETS OUT A DEEP BREATH** ) BURNING BRIDGES…”_

All of the sudden, the phone in Rogers hand, started to heat up to the point where he had to let it fall on his plate. While Rogers tried to ease the pain from the burn with his napkin, the others were watching the phone melt in his eggs Benedict. The sense that the world would want them, that Tony would need them, was getting more and more far-fetched as the days went by.

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

It may have been also the fact that once back in their respective rooms, they all found their own Stark-made weaponry, like the falcon wings, or the widow bites, or Clint’s own bow and arrows out of commission. The circuits were fried. There was no mistaking it…

 

* * *

 

 

It was during the second half of the Expandable movie, while Pepper had fallen asleep on him,  that his phone vibrated. The notice from Fryday read:

MESSAGE RECEIVED

With a smirk, he looked at the words on his phone and then looked at Pepper again.  Phone now forgotten, he genuinely smiled.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and one by one, like the ten little indians, bit the dust...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all thank you all so much for taking the time to read this and leave either kudos, or wonderful comments... didn't really expect all this, so again thank you so much!!! :)  
> here we go again, i really don't know about this chapter... so i hope you guys have fun with it!  
> now, again, i am Italian, not English. there might be mistakes, actually there are going to be mistakes, that i still haven't noticed after reading this for the fifth time, and i sure as hell will notice after i post it... so please be gentle with me...Lol
> 
> so about this chapter, it might be a little longer then the others, but i have a sort of plan here sooo, bear with me... and again i hope it is a decent read for you guys!!! :)

 

* * *

 

 

**Stark Tower**

**Tony's workshop**

His plan had been very simple really. Sign the accords, become the driving force behind them, therefore having both hands on the wheel, and then changing them, making them better, protecting the people, and the heroes, enhanced or otherwise, that volunteered to saving lives and the planet from greater threat then your usual robbery…

It was logic really. 2+2=4. Nothing complicated about that.

Going over what had happened, he really didn’t understand how more clear could he have been, barring actually making a drawing in crayons. He was a genius, but it didn’t take a degree to understand his reasoning.

Playing the game, taking control of the game, making the rules of the game… that’s politics 101.

He understood, not liking Ross, he understood their side, possibly better than they did. But from the moment that Tony signed them, he had already changed them.

He wouldn’t sign anything blind, not being sure of the consequence. it was not done. it was simple common sense really. Something that the Rogues obviously didn't have! 

It wasn’t difficult. His plan had been simple. Let’s collaborate to make the accords better. Your signature is provisionary. It’s meant to show people your willingness to listen to the majority of the nations around the globe telling you to stop…

Ross had been the thorn in his side. Antagonizing everyone. He had an agenda that was pretty clear before team Cap went off the handle, and then of course Barnes… he sighed.

Everything could have been so very simple. But captain asshole didn’t listen, didn’t’ really care for anything but, and get this, he, self righteous idiot that he was, had his own agenda. How would his fans like that? The ones that followed him blindly just because he was fucking captain America?

Clint left retirement for something Tony wasn’t sure he was completely aware of. Natasha well, he didn’t know what the hell was she thinking! And that exchange at the hospital had been ruthless and cruel, something not entirely surprising from the secret agent, but altogether shocking from someone that he considered a friend and an ally.

The others, well really he didn’t have much to say except that from an mechanical engineer and a therapist, he expected more. They had to have gone to college after all. But all this civil war reeked of irrationality.

He could blame Zemo for it, but at this very moment, Tony blamed fucking Rogers and fucking Romanov. Had they done their jobs well, Barnes wouldn’t be in a fucking freezer, but alive, breathing, with BOTH his arms attached, in a psychiatry facility trying to de-condition  himself with the help of BARF (need to change the name damn it!). That was the fucking plan!

Had they followed it, Tony would have never seen his parents being killed on a fucking screen!

He had HATED his father unjustly for thirty odd years! Don’t get him wrong,  Howard wasn’t a good father, but he wasn’t abusive either. And he had learned a lot, from a very young age, from the work that Howard did in his own version of the workshop, watching him tinker was Tony’s childhood favorite thing to do. He often stayed quiet, in the background as not to disturb his dad. He had loved his father.

Moreover his father had not killed his mom. He wasn’t drunk at the wheel, like aunt Peggy had made him believe. He sighed. Those people that he now understands being Shield, had lied to him.

He remember her coming to the house, looking grim and apologetic, while she sat him down and explained that his parents had died, that it was a car accident, a fatality. And then after the funeral, telling him, that Howard had been drunk at the wheel… this he could and would never forget.

He did not break her neck with his bare hands while she begged, and begged until she couldn’t anymore. The yells, the sounds from that video, still haunted him every day. Just like Ultron victims did, every day, every hour, every second of his life. And they would until his dying breath. He was sure of it.

His therapist had helped him accept his guilt, work the guilt, turning it into something useful. Something to be proud of, to work towards. To make the lives that had been lost, worth something… that everything that had happened wasn’t for nothing.

She had also told him out loud, how it wasn’t his fault alone. He had a project, Ultron was a file. He didn’t build it a body, didn’t turn him to Hydra.

He didn’t kill Wanda and Pietro’s parents.

And that was fine and dandy for his brain. He actually KNEW all of this, but his heart was an entirely different matter. He wasn’t heartbroken for the run-away avengers, he was heartbroken for the victims of this civil war, for the victims of Ultron, he was heartbroken for Banner, wherever the hell he was. He wasn’t trying to find him. He had come to a conclusion. He was done trying for any of them. Hulk or any god (re: Thor, and again where the hell was he?!), no freaking more. He was done.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Rhodey… well, Rhodey was walking. He had built the braces, and made them as comfortable as he could, but they couldn’t be permanent. They weren’t comfortable and tired Rodhey out, way too much for his liking.

But then an old file from his youth at MIT caught his attention, compliments of a silent Friday. It described a  detailed bio-microchip, that could re-stabilize the connection between nerves and/or muscle to the brain effectively allowing paralyzed patients to walk. The project, back then, was way ahead of its time, just like BARF (really, really need to change the name!).

He had  taken the bio-microchip project, worked endlessly on it, and now, after a not so complicated surgical procedure Colonel James Rhodes was back. He was walking and running. And more importantly he was back at his job. He wanted back in the suit too. Tony was stalling him at the best of his abilities. It had been only a month and a half, and there was still no need for it. Local vigilantes had the situation under control more or less in each city. He ought to know that, since he was keeping tabs on all of them.

He had another project to complete before starting building back the suit. War Machine that is. The Iron suit… well he really didn’t know what to do with it.

 

* * *

 

 

Now his other project was staring back at him. It had been the work of countless hours, between him and Pepper. Well, mostly Pepper, since she had done the organizing.

On the screen hundreds of texts file, video feeds files, audio transcriptions with the relative recordings were flashing before his eyes, all about to be compressed and distributed in various files to scatter in the dark internet.

He had a choice to make. He either sent this at the UN committee desks and risk not having the desired results, or going to a more creative route about it. Not exactly the road that somebody abiding the law, the accords, would do. He felt a little bit the hypocrite. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

When the process was done mere seconds later…

“Boss, shell I sent it out?”

“no, I’ll do it manually, Fry. Send the window on the screen, please”

“done, boss…”

He took a deep breath, this was real, this was happening. It wasn’t supposed to go this way… he shook his head and sighed. Took a deep breath and Tony pressed enter on his keyboard.

Seconds later “CONTENT SENT” was blinking in front of him.

It felt good.

 

* * *

 

 

Sometime things just work out by themselves.

Other times, however, they needed a little push.

Like Pollicino ( _Tom Thumb_ ), the media had followed a trace of bread crumbs,  going in the dark internet, and coming out of it to the other side, to the light, of what promised to be a big, big scandal.

Who left those traces there, was not important for the media, or politicians. hell, any hackers could have done it. But what the Boston Globe journalists had found, assured them the next Pulitzer price.

Thaddeus Ross was done.

Ridiculed and ostracized by the media, criticized and fired by the White House, and put under investigation by a special commission within the UN, he was arrested for crimes against humanity, unlawful arrests and unlawful detention of suspects in a series of criminal acts… and a staggering number of other crimes.

The dossier, that was published a week later, by the Boston Globe was 356 pages long, full of facts, backed up by the evidence. The truth staring at Americans and the world in the face.

The thing is that, in a  building there are different types of walls. If you take out a load-bearing wall, the whole structure collapses in a cloud of dust and smoke… and so all of this info, shook the entire pyramid of power behind Ross, bringing it to the ground.

Funny things, as Tony knows, are funny…. and so, while at home, watching the news with Pepper snuggled to him, and Vision on his other side,  he laughed, and laughed and laughed. A weight off his shoulders…

And once he got it out of his system, with his poker face on, trademark goatee and smirk present, the next day he went out to the press conference that the UN committee had organized.  He had sad in on the panel listening the committee answering questions of journalists from all over the world. At the question “did you have anything to do with this leak, Mr. Stark?”, with a straight face he answered, “no! I did not! I would have like to though!” a laugh from the audience and that was it… and that wasn’t entirely a lie… looking right in the background, behind the cameras,  he saw Pepper smiling and smirking…

 

* * *

 

 

**Wakanda**

**Royal palace**

**King T’Challa office**

They were watching the reports, interviews and the like on the flat screen, and while King T’Challa sat there dumbfounded, his sister got up and looked at him. She was supposed to respect the king, but now she wasn’t sure. It didn’t take a scientist to understand who was behind this leak, and the more time she looked into the guy, the more she was impressed.

Impressed is not a word that she, today could use one her brother however.

“well, I have to say that for somebody that is supposed to be selfish and cares only for himself, he did DO a lot. Especially for those uncivil beasts that you insists on housing…or is hiding a better term??”

“Sister , may I remind you…”

“yes, you may and you did, countless times. You are the king and I am supposed to be loyal to you, but, may I remind you that I am loyal only to Wakanda and its people, first and foremost, and may I also remind you this words “aiding and abetting” international wanted criminals will, not if, but when, so it will put in jeopardy our country, your country, but most important for me, MY country, MY home, literally, and may i remind you also that the Wakandan people, do not deserve this treatment. You are being blinded by your own feelings and guilt, brother, just like them. I would thread very carefully…” Shuri said while making her way to the door.

“Is that a threat, Shuri? Because I don’t like this!” Asked T’Challa getting up, from his couch.

She turned around and stared at him in his eyes “no, dear brother, that’s a promise that I make. Put this country in danger and I will not hesitate to throw you and your uncivilized friends to the UN and the international criminal court! Fix this… now better then later” and with that she closed the door behind her with a thud.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "you can't hide from the truth, because the truth is all there is" Roisin Murphy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all thank you all so much for taking the time to read this and leave either kudos, or wonderful comments... thank you so much!!! :)
> 
> here we go again, i really don't know about this chapter... so i hope you guys have fun with it!  
> this takes place BEFORE Spiderman: homecoming!  
> CROSSOVER AHEAD with Marvel's Agents of shield. only it's the end of the third season. no LMDs, no Radcliffe. Coulson is still director, Daisy didn't run away and Fitzsimmons are a bickering couple! (thanks for that s4 finale Marvel #sarcasm!)  
> now, again, i am Italian, not English. there might be mistakes, actually there are going to be mistakes, that i still haven't noticed after reading this for the fifth time, and i sure as hell will notice after i post it... so please be gentle with me...Lol

He told himself he was done. Done with everything having to do with the avengers, done and done!

So why the hell was he here. Was he some kind of masochist or what? he should talk to his therapist about this, Tony thought, while looking around.

He was standing in what he could only guess being the anti-camera of whatever was behind those double metallic doors.

Get an appointment, he had said to Coulson. So why was the hell was he the one going to him, instead of Coulson coming to his office at SI, it was a mystery to him.

Well, not really.

Pepper Potts was the reason. Coulson had bypassed Tony, talked to Pepper, for whom he was still “Phil”, and now here he was! damn-it!

“Mr. Stark so good you could come to us… please follow me…”

“Agent Coulson why am I here?”

“Mr. Stark, I assure you there is nothing to be alarmed about…Welcome to the new Shield…”

“Oh… goody”

The metal door opened to find a non-descriptive hallway.

They walked that same hallway for about five minutes, when they finally came to a kind of conference room.

“Coulson, am I being kidnapped? because I would like to know!”

“Stark, get in here…now…” A voice barked from behind him.

Tony turned around, to see Fury standing there…

“well doesn’t anybody stay dead anymore?!”

“Stark!”

“Fine… no need to get angry, aren’t you 104 years old by now?? a man your age should really watch it!”. He patted Fury on his shoulder, and entered the room, he noticed the large table in the middle, with a flat screen on the opposite wall, and people sitting at that table. Well, fuck me indeed!

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Why am I here?” Tony asked after sitting down, with a scowl on his face “and no offence but who are you?”

“This is Agent May, this is doctor Simmons and doctor…”

“Fitz… I remember you! I offered you a job, you said no… because of Shield?! I am hurt and disappointed!”

“Well, sir… yes. Didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter… it’ll be an adventure this one said…” he said pointing his head toward Simmons.

“Oh for god’s sake, for the last time, I didn’t force you to join…”

“You might want to rethink that, Gemma… “

“Excuse me, are we interrupting you?” asked Fury looking at Fitzsimmons.

“Sorry sir”

shaking his head at the antics of his people, he continued “Good, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted this is Agent May…”

In the background Simmons was still whispering making Fitz uncomfortable and Daisy smirk “you were going to work for Stark?”

“these two STILL bickering are doctor Simmons and Doctor Fitz, and this is Daisy Johnson”

“hello everyone… now that we have exhausted the presentations, Coulson, may I know why was I summoned here??”

“we need your help…”

“if this is about team Cap…” he said shaking his head...

“it’s not. Stark it’s about inhumans or enhanced people… and what is going to happen to them when the Accords will be ratified as they are right now. We needed amendments, revisions, and Ross was an obstacle to that, but now… we have people here….”

“I see… well, I am sure that the WH is going to appoint someone in Ross’s place to the UN committee… you might want to talk to said person whoever the poor son of a bitch is” said sipping the coffee “this is the worst coffee ever!”

Fury ignored him and continued “we know they are trying to find someone capable, but as the still standing Shield, we were asked by the president to make a recommendation… and we recommended you!”

“what?” putting slowly the mug on the table he looked straight at Fury “no.”

“you know the accords and the avengers business better than anyone I know, and we need someone that will do the right thing…”

“no, no, and hell to the no! what you need is an international law expert, and therapy and not necessarily in that order!”

“Stark, we know it was you!” Fury said after banging his fist on the table, making the others jump, while May still sat coldly looking at everyone.

“me? I didn’t do anything… that I know of any way…”

“Stark, we know.” Making him understand what was Fury talking about, Colson continued “We need you…”

“I can’t” and then the room started to shake “what the…is this an earthquake?”

 “no, that’s me. I am the one that is causing this… I am one of those inhumans, Mr. Stark… contrary to popular belief, we want to help people. We are not a freak of nature dr. Stark. But with the current political and civil climate, people like me are either going to hide or antagonize authority, or we are being hunted like animals!” Daisy calmly explained while the shakes subsided.

“Stark? I know you know that something big is coming whether we like it or not. And I know you have had a plan since before Ultron happened… now is the time to develop it. And as you said it starts with accountability and the accords.” Fury looked at expectantly.

They actually expected him to solve this. He had a plan.  A simple one. But that went to shit. What were they expecting of him?

Tony looked around the room at their faces. He should have known this would happen…“I would need to rehabilitate Shield first… and that’s going to be damn complicated…I would need full reports on who, what, how and why… and we would need to make it public: transparency and all that. We also would need to get the US government approval, and it’s going to be damn impossible… but there is no way I am going to do this as a private citizen. And we would need every nation signing the accords, to put in place a similar agency, and then coordinate between them, when in need, internationally… and we would need more people joining the Avengers initiative, and I am not talking about the vigilantes in new York, or Chicago, or Boston… I am talking global teams… each nation should be able to have a team, that answer to their national shield agency, which should not answer to the nation's own government, but a UN  appointed committee… and to put all this in place is going to be… quite frankly impossible…”

“what about a defense system?” Fitz suggested, earning himself an elbow in his side from Simmons.

“that was what Ultron was supposed to be…that didn’t go well, did it? This, all of this, if I accept, this can’t be attached to SI. I am done with that. If I can pull this off… The Avenger’s brand… I can’t have it in my property… I can’t. it’s going to have to go to a third party that would allocate money (eventual and sure revenue from the merchandise) to a relief fund for victims (hoping there is no need for it) and the financing for the training, the compounds, the weaponry… that should totally befall your R&D department. Not SI…”

“Well… Stark you have an appointment in two weeks at the UN already, can you write a draft?” Fury asked while making his way toward the door.

“Write a draft? Fury, I don’t know if you realize this, but this isn’t a describe your summer vacation kind of  paper. I need to research, at least to see if something like this is even possible. The international practice on some of the key issues is conflicting at best…we are talking about getting, what? 128 countries…

“156…” Simmons interjected.

“156? Fury, I am good but I am not God, I don’t make miracles happen… even my own legal team…”

“Just try and that is all I, well we can ask… and the WH is going to call you in a couple of days to officially appoint you… Stark we need this, especially now… you said it yourself…time is of the essence”

Using his own words against him. Sure, Fury was a son of a bitch, Rogers lover and all that, but he did have a point. Whatever was coming… it was imminent, and they needed to be prepared.

Well, fuck….

 

* * *

 

 

So, of course, staring into the youngsters eyes, he had says yes knowing fully well how much work he would have to do and how much less sleep he was going to have. Pepper was either going to kill him or marry him. Accountability, check! Responsibility? Check! Could he really do it? He thought about it… fuck yes he could and he will, even if he had to call in favors from twenty years ago.

 

* * *

 

 

That night, during dinner he decided to spring the news of a possible political career to Pepper. She had looked at him and then smiled…

“I think you should do it…” while devouring a ravioli con ricotta.

“really?” well, color him surprised..

“I am serious Tony. You saved the world more times that even you care to admit… this is who you are, and if this is a new way to protect people, then I say go for it… from a professional stand point, I say SI is going to benefit from this even more. The stoke has never been higher. The board is happy… it’s time Tony…and I am so very proud of…"

“miss Potts, Boss…” Friday interrupted them. She sounded alarmed about something…

“Friday what is it?”

“I would counsel you to go in the living room, colonel Rhodes and Vision are already there. There is something on TV that you should see… I am so very sorry Boss”

“Friday?” He sighed, what did captain asshole do now?

“come on Tony…” said Pepper getting up from the table and dragging Tony towards the living room.

Entering the living room, the large screen was projecting a news feed… a  journalist commenting the video in the background…Tony closed his eyes. A CCTV showing Wanda messing with his head. His parents. The fight in Siberia.

Cazzo, cazzo cazzo…no, non adesso…( _fuck, fuck fuck no, not now)_

Something was constricting his chest, like an elephant was sitting in his chest.

A shooting pain at the shoulder blades… it’s like they were closing in on his rib cage, his eye sight went blurry, short breathing… he had to sit down…

“Fry, I thought you had deleted…” he barely said, trying to catch his breath. This was a panic attack, just a panic attack, if only he could calm down… Andiamo, sei uno stark. Respira Tony, respira. ( _come on you are a Stark! Breathe, Tony breathe!)_

“I am so sorry Boss, it must have been a wireless hidden connection to the base… I am trying to block the feed but it’s too fast… I can’t. I am so sorry Boss…”

“where did it came from Friday…” asked Pepper. Still he wasn’t breathing well. Half of his face felt now almost numb, and he felt cold. Maybe this was it. The heart attack that would finally kill him…

 Oddio no, non adesso. Ho tante cose da fare…  ( _oh god, not now… I have so many things to do still…)_

“Miss Potts, it came originally from the base in Siberia, and then pinged first in London, then Rome, New York… it’s everywhere. I am so very sorry…”

“it must have been….” the pain was not diminishing “on a timer… cazzo”

“Tony?”

“Rhodey I think…” sitting was too painful, so he let himself collapse on the couch.

“I am calling dr. Cho NOW!” Rhodey got up, and called the doctor explaining the situation.

Pepper went to his side trying to making comfortable, adjusting a pillow under his head.“Tony, don’t do this to me now, please… you hear me?” Pepper said while putting a pillow under his legs, and making sure he was comfortable

“Pepper I…”

“don’t you dare say it now… later… Vision, can you check is vitals, please?” Peppers asked while she took out her phone and started walking towards the open kitchen area “this is Virginia Potts, I need to speak with Mr. Davidson, NOW!”

“yes, of course.” Vision crouched next to the couch where Tony was laying “did I do this?! I should have stopped them… I…”

Talking and breathing was getting harder and harder…

A fleeting thought. He should keep a medical tem at the tower or at least medical supplies…

“no, Vision…. No. This is not your fault (breath) this is no one’s fault…you know…. I feel dizzy… Pepper…”  and that was the last thing he said before he lost consciousness.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Wakanda

Royal Palace

Common Room/Living Room

“ _this is breaking news from New York. The hits keeps on coming for the Stark family. Reps from SI industry has released a statement. After the videos detailing the attack on Mr. Stark. Mr. and Mrs. Stark murder at the hands of the winter soldier, and the consequent attack by captain America a.k.a Mr. Rogers and the winter soldier a.k.a. Sargent Barned, were shown in every news channel globally, Tony Stark suffered an heart attack of grave intensity. He is said to be right now stable but, the prognosis is still reserved… story is developing still…” the anchor took a deep breathe “there is no words to explain or express the absolute media massacre that this man had to go through in the last 24 hours, and now this… we, as Wakandans, do wish him a full recovery._

_Now onto good news. Italy decided to ratify the Accords, barring Parliament approval….”_

 

Shock. that was the best words to describe what Wilson, Burton and even Wands were feeling now. Natasha sat frozen on the sofa, while Scott shot up from his chair. 

With his clenched fists he started shouting at Steve making everyone jump in surprise.“ What the hell?? You didn’t tell us that Barnes had killed Stark’s parents… you didn't tell us that he had to see that...you just told us that he attacked you because he wanted to bring you in! this is not what happened… you lied to us! To me! I have a daughter that I am never again going to see because by now, she herself must hate me… I gave up my life for you… and your ideals… but there was nothing, was there? This wasn’t about the accords… this wasn’t about the government agenda, this was about your agenda… I feel so stupid…”

“Lang…” Burton tried to interject, to calm Scott down.

“No. Just no. this is what you left your wife and your kids for, Burton… and God knows when you are going to go home and see them… if Stark" he stopped himself. he realized now that he was seeing clear for the first time in weeks. Stark didn't owe them anything. Shacking his head "…it was all for nothing… ”

“Bucky is innocent in this, and Tony tried to...!” 

“I don’t give a fuck about your boyfriend Rogers…Stark was right. She" indicating at Wanda "she, was the one who messed with his mind, she is responsible for Ultron, with and maybe even more than Stark! so, don’t sit there like some kind of martyr for freedom, because you are not! And I am done talking to you!”

“Lang….” Steve tried to stop him, but to no avail.

Wanda shuddered at the feeling. Every time it felt like the cold run through her bones. The feeling of someone’s anger…“He is very angry right now, I can feel it… he…”

“Wilson, Maximoff, leave the room now, I want to talk to Steve alone… Clint you too..”

"Nat...she didn't know what she was doing..."

“if you know what’s good for you, you will get out of this room…NOW!”

As they made their exit, disgruntled and confused, Natasha closed the door behind them, and walked slowly towards Steve, extended out her right arm and slapped the super soldier in the face. Steve stumbled and fell on the couch, not so much for the blow, but for the surprise…

“I thought we agreed…” Natasha said sitting next to him, while he massaged the side of his face…

“I…”

“shut up Steve… do you have any idea what you have done… we had a home… and now we don’t. Stark if he survive this….he will not forgive nor  forget… he’s got trust issues the size of Africa…you should have known better…” and she got up, and walked toward the door, her spine slightly curved “I, should have known better…” looked at him and then got out, living the door open.

With his head in his hands he only hoped that Tony made it through, and maybe just maybe they could fix this. He would need them. He was convinced of it. And maybe he should be the one to apologize, in person this time…

Satisfied with his own conclusions, he got up, and walked out toward the terrace… he took a deep breath… yes, everything would be just fine.

 

* * *

 

 

La speranza è sempre l’ultima a morire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORT OF SPOILER AHEAD:  
> have you seen the pics of RDJ on the IW set??? people say it's a flashback from Afghanistan, but the arc reactor didn't look like that... and that made me think that Tony Stark didn't escape unscathed from Siberia. just notice how he wears the suit in the trailer in Homecoming... something is up... or am i imagining things? he has a black jacket on, a some kind of sweater and another black shirt... mah


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> well, that went well. no, seriously it went well!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY.  
> i can't believe the time that has passed. i don't want to think about it. all i can say is that life happened in the worst way possible, and then my pc died, with the three chapters that i had written and all my notes from university totally lost. what i have been able to get back was minimal. sigh.  
> now that my PC is up and running here comes the monster of a chapter that i wrote. it is not what i originally had written but close enough, i hope.  
> THANK you so much for everyone that takes the time to read and review this not so very well written fics. you guys always put a smile on my face!!! :) THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
> 
> NOW ON TO THE FIC  
> i still have to see homecoming, but i couldn't resist the spoilers... so....yes!!! :)  
> now, to remind you all, i am not from the U.S or the UK, i am italian, and so i am sure that, for how many times i re-read the chapter before posting, it is going to have mistakes in it. it always happens! i'll do my best to correct them and edit the chapter.  
> also i am planning on editing this whole thing (thanks Marvel CA:CW) before updating the next chapter. i just wanted to get this ch. out!
> 
> i hope you like it!!!

There is something traumatic and terrifying about watching your loved one, on a gurney, with an oxygen mask on, covering his gray (yes, gray) skin and a paramedic on top of him practicing compressions on his chest.

His pulse had been all over the place after he had passed out. Slow, almost unreadable, and then fast like he was running the marathon. But he was still like a stone.

And  Pepper, Vision and Rhodey just  stood on the side while they were taking him away, not knowing what laid ahead.

As Happy was driving the limo behind the ambulance, almost gripping the steering wheel, Vision and Rhodey were talking respectively with the government officials about a meeting and with Friday to try to block the videos.

Pepper just stared ahead silently, shocked and numb. Because out of all the reasons that you would expect someone like Tony Stark, who is larger than life, and that escaped death for more times that Pepper cares to remember, would die of a simple but lethal heart attack was utterly ridicoulus. No aliens, no psychos with superhuman powers. No, those videos is what  had done it.

Then again, she thought, how long can someone, who sacrificed his body and mind saving the world, can be expected to go on? And how much more can he endure before he breaks?

Pepper and Rhodey knew intimately what the relationship between Tony and his parents was like.

Tony had loved his mother like nobody else. There is still nobody that rival that kind of affection in Tony’s heart. Even more then Jarvis(the man), who, arguably was the only father figure he had growing up.

Tony had hated his dad with a passion. Making him believe that Howard was the one who took away his mom, was cruel and necessary,at least in the eyes of Shield, and Agent Carter’s. They were wrong.

Therefore, he passed the last twenty-five years blaming his father for something that he had no power over. Howard wasn’t drunk that night. He sincerely was trying to be better. And the notion of things that could have been, and words that could have been spoken, but weren’t, killed Tony.

But he had gotten better, therapy and all that. His health was fine.

Nothing however could have predicted that particular video, and the two others to make their way to the public. The videos were on repeat on every channel Pepper could find. Even Fox News, and well… enough said.

It made Pepper sick to her stomach, as she started to feel the familiar heat rise within.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**Two hours later**

**New York**

**Private medical facility**

There is a feeling of dread, an unbearable fear that closes in on the person awaiting news of the fate of a loved one. That feeling that closes in on your heart, that does not make you breathe, because deep down you know that you are either deluding yourself to a happy ending, or resigning yourself to the inevitable.

It was a familiar feeling for Pepper Potts.

She fell in love with a man, that she had to share him with the rest of the world almost from the get go of their relationship.

His guilt had propelled him to stop personally his weapons, and then the responsibility that comes with being Iron Man, or being the only one being capable of doing things that nobody else could. All of this had pushed him to incredible lengths that she was not sure she was strong enough to handle then.  She had asked for a break. Stupid naïve Pepper.

The heart wants what it wants, and after Friday had called with the news that Sir was somewhere in Siberia and that the suit inexplicably had gone offline, she felt a punch to the stomach, that had taken the air out of her lungs. She was not strong enough to deal with that. Not yet. Didn’t want to even consider the possibilities. The what ifs that ended with her alone.

Tony was no fool. He had prepared for a possible early depart. SI, she knew would be fine.

In addition, if the endless list of ideas that he left the company was not enough, he had designated a list of successors that could take his place and continue his work in time, and maybe better the legacy that the Stark family had left for the world to see.

She wasn’t no fool either. She knew all about it. He had tried to hide it. Nevertheless, she knew. And she knew about a certain protocol that was supposed to be a secret between him and Jarvis then, and Friday now. She could not imagine that scenario. She refused, and she did not want to know…

Rhodey interrupted her reverie, walking towards her with a cup of coffee in his hands.

“Any news?”

“Do I look like I have news James?” she snapped. She took a deep breathe, “I am sorry…”

“It’s okay; I understand… so no news…”

“They keep disappearing behind those doors. Actually after you were gone, a couple of nurses have come out to tell me that for now he is stable, but they have put him on sedatives to make him sleep… and yes it was a heart attack, as if I don’t know what a heart attack is! I… can’t lose him, not now.”

“I know…”

“Do you? Partly this was my fault. I am very well aware that I contributed greatly to his ever-growing stress level. Leaving him like that and for what? I couldn’t even stay away two months…”

“You are in love with the man…. And he is head over heels crazy for you. Everything that he did, was to protect you…”

“Do you think that I don’t know that?” she scoffed “I couldn’t deal. I wasn’t strong enough…. What a load of bullshit! You know, I always thought that the avenger business would kill him, not this!”

“Have you seen the three videos?”

“Yes. I have seen them, and I am not sure that either Rogers or the winter soldiers would have made it out alive if it was I and my parents were the ones being killed on screen… so yeah, I saw it! It doesn’t change anything James. Has Vision or Friday found where the original feed really came from this time?”

“…”

“James?”

“Wakanda.”

“Wakanda? As in king T’Challa, Wakanda? The same “king” that was standing doing nothing while Tony was beaten to death? As in Tony, still has a contract for vibranium still standing Wakanda? That Wakanda?” she took a deep breath and lowered her voice to almost imperceptible “as in housing illegally certain types of guests, Wakanda?”

He looked at her, almost surprised that she knew. Resigned to the inevitable he whispered “Yes.”

Her jaw clenched, her eyes turning a slight tinge of red, Pepper got up from her chair and walked toward the window staring at the view. She felt the familiar heat rising.

Rhodes followed her.

Without turning Pepper spoke again, “Did you know that Tony saved my life?” With that, she turned around looking at Rhodes in the eyes, sending shivers down his spine, while her eyes had a slight tinge of orange.

“Yes, Pepper, but…”

A nurse came to interrupt them…

“Miss Potts, Colonel Rhodes, please follow me… Dr. Cho needs to talk to you, if could follow me…”

With that, the nurse turned around towards the doors.

Sensing where Rhodey was going, Pepper turned to him “don’t even dare tell me what to do, James…not now!” As she walked ahead, Rhodes sighed. The path of vengeance he knew well, and he knew that Pepper was determined. Dejectedly he followed her and the nurse. For everyone’s sake he hoped that Tony would be fine in time.

 

* * *

 

“Don’t!”

“What?”

“Anthony, I am telling you to stop fiddling with the wires! You are going to electrocute yourself! You are like a toddler, you know that?”

“Ugh” he huffed still straining one of the wires.

“Stop it!”

“Tony?” Pepper was standing in the entrance, while watching the scene unfold. Dr. Cho turned toward them, somewhat relieved to have help in dealing with the man.

“Pepper, Colonel, I present you the most stubborn man that I have ever met!” she said with a huff.

Pepper stood frozen at the entrance, almost in a trance. Somehow her brain could not comprehend how he was laying on that bed, looking like he had been just taking a nap and nothing else “Tony? How?”

“It’s okay, come here...”

“The wires!” Helen admonished again. He had to be kept under control.

“How is this possible?” asked Rhodey watching the couple hold hands “he doesn’t look sick!”

“Well I wish I could tell you how… he is not fine!”

“Hey! I look good…,” said Tony with the biggest flirty smile. Pepper looked him over. They had given him something for sure!

“And you shouldn’t look like that!” Dr. Cho admonished.

“She’s right, man!”

“Oh Rhodey, you are just jealous!” Tony giggled. Yep, they had given him the good stuff all right.

Sighing Dr. Cho began her explanation “For all intents and purposes he had a massive heart attack… but apart from his blood pressure going up and down like a yoyo, there is nothing that could indicate a heart attack… there is no blockage. The arteries are free. The condition of his heart is stable… he is not worse for wear, shall we say. He's got a pulse that still is unstable but that is why we are thinking of equipping you with a bypass...”

“Is that what caused it?  The unstable pulse?” asked a worried Pepper.

“Partly. Let’s face it!  He is not a young stud anymore…”

“hey!” Tony protested at that remark “that is just rude!”

Unfazed Helen continued “ and the damage to his heart is still there and is permanent. The good news is that the vanilla version of extremis injected made sure that it wasn’t any worse… no matter what, apparently!”

“Could this still be happening?” still Pepper asked, while Tony still playing with a yellow wire attached to his chest, before his hand  got had swept by Rhodey effectively making him drop the aforementioned wire.

“Frankly yes… there is no absolute in this. The damage that you have sustained, frankly it is unprecedented and not only because of the extremis… and I do not know what kind of other effects… I am at a loss, and I don’t like that one bit, honestly!”

“What if he were to inject a more loaded version of extremis, as to heal him completely?” asked Rhodey still watching Tony like a hawk!

“Yes…” Pepper agreed

“Well, I don’t know if…”

“No.” came a booming yell from the patient.

“Tony!”

“No. No powers, no super Tony. No! And you know why…”

“Tony….”

“I said no Pepper!” all of the sudden the cardiac monitor started beeping loudly, startling everyone in the room.

“Okay, Tony, we won’t…don’t get upset.” Said Pepper trying to pacify Tony who was still muttering about no super Tony, the serum and super fucking soldiers.

Dr. Cho, indicating the monitor reiterated “This, you have to avoid. See how it jumped…”

“What?” asked a dazed, slightly calmer Tony?

“Stress! Do you remember what I said in Helsinki or were you too heavily medicated? No stress! I understand the circumstances on both the last two times and that is why for at least a week I am forbidding the use of any electronics, and I am serious Stark. “

“But…”

“No, I don’t think that I can stress this enough. You should be dead! No other human being with or without the extremis version that you have in your system, should have survived… you were lucky! Very much so! Please understand that you HAVE TO take care of yourself this time. You will take your time. In addition, to make sure, that you will, and because I do not trust you to, I am keeping you here until I say so. Consider yourself kidnapped… you should be quite used to it by now!” and with that Dr. Cho picked up her file and almost walked out, when she turned around “just one can stay for the night and provided he doesn’t get upset!” and the walked right out of the room.

“She’s a delight isn’t she…” said Tony in a scowl.

“Tony! Don’t do that man….you scared the shit out of me!”

“Oh, I am sorry I worried you sugarpuss! So, where did those videos come from?”

“W…”

“We don’t know yet. Friday and Vision are still working on it! You do not have to worry about this now. I’ll take care of it…,” said Pepper firmly interrupting Rhodey.

“SI?”

“Believe it or not, the stock has never been higher actually, which is quite ironic. Everyone, even the board members wishes you a full recovery! Now you are here… alive! I cannot… you know what? You do not have to worry about a thing. I will take care of everything!”

“Pepper…” she shook her head denying whether protests Tony came up with. “Will that be all Mr. Stark?

“That’ll be all Miss Potts….” She leaned in, minding the wires, and kissed him. She took a deep breath leaning her forehead on his “I’ll be back in a minute… rest! James, come with me?”

“Yeah, don’t move Tones! Last thing you need is to electrocute yourself!”

“Where am I going to go I have got wires everywhere, I feel like a piece of my suit. And now I am talking to myself… ohhh I like this color” he said looking at a yellow wire attached to his heart monitor. Then letting go of the wires, looked toward the ceiling “wow…boy I like this drug!”

 

* * *

 

When they arrived to the waiting room, Pepper turned towards James sharply, ready to state her reasons.

“Pepper I think we should have informed him!”

“Well I don’t.  Didn’t you hear Dr. Cho? No stress. He hears the word Wakanda and his blood pressure is going to skyrocket.” She paused for a moment “They did this, didn’t they?” she asked gravely.

“I don’t know…”

“Ask Friday to keep surveillance on them, especially agent Romanov and that Witch…”

“You don’t think? They wouldn’t, couldn’t do that?”

“Then explain to me James, how a footage that was impossible to get a hold of, got into their hands? They almost killed him… they are international criminals and they are stupid enough to keep stepping on their own agenda! I wouldn’t put this past them!” she took a deep breath.

“Pepper…. I don’t like this!”

“I am going to need you at the tower… everything that Friday finds out I want to know. I am serious.”

“Tony won’t like that.”

“I don’t give a damn what he likes or doesn’t like. I am taking the responsibility for this.  And if you cannot bring yourself to lie to him, just think what it would do to him knowing that the source is in Wakanda. Whether it is a ghost source and it actually came from somewhere else or not, this would destroy him! And I will not allow that!”

“Pepper…”

“I almost lost him…AGAIN! This ends now!” she looked hard at James, waiting for a sign of understanding, not approval. And when she received it, she nodded back, understanding to keep in touch, and went back into the room after Rhodey walked out.

She took another deep breath, heat rising again from within her, something that she felt only once. If the rogue avengers wanted war, she would bring them one that they would never forget as long as they have to live. Sighing, she pulled herself together and went back in the room, to find Tony finally sleeping.

 

* * *

 

 

**Two weeks later**

**Stark Tower, NY**

Upon entering the living room, she was surprised to hear Italian classic music in the hair, and Tony still in his pajama reading over documents while sitting on the couch.

“Tony!”

“Pepper, you are back early…”

“And you are supposed to be on bed rest, those were the condition Helen gave you for your release! What are you doing?”

“Revising the latest version of the accords.” He answered, as if it was something that he did daily.

“And exactly when did you become an expert on international law?” she said looking over the stack of papers and books.

“This morning, of course. Let’s face it, this is not the strangest thing you have caught me doing. Plus Friday has been nagging me in your stead and I have to say she does a really good job” Tony smiled his smile. It was good having him home again, being his self again, just… a little more careful, which she liked a lot!

“I aim to please, boss. Miss Potts, good to see you!”

“Hello Friday, won’t you keep an eye on him, please, and where is Vision? I thought he was spending the day here…”

“He’s taking cooking lesson, Lord help us all. Really honey, I am resting, pacing myself, really don’t worry, and didn’t you have a meeting in an hour?”

“Yes I do! Please, Tony...”

“I got it Pep, really. I wouldn’t jeopardize my health, not now, you have to believe me.”

“I believe you. Ok, I will see you for dinner.” She leaned him to kiss him.

“Might want to prepare yourself and eat out. Vision is on a health kick, after he watched a documentary on high cholesterol, which by the way I don’t have. I can't seem to convince him that I am fine”

“well, he was scared, you know. I don't think he understood that sentiment... you might want to talk to him about that. Then again i am way more relaxed knowing that someone else, besides me, Friday and James is looking out for you! All right. Behave!” and after a peck, she left, leaving Tony to make sense of article 14 on the involuntary enhanced people.

"involuntarily enhanced people... IEP!!! hey, might be better than calling them inhumans, right Fry?"

"i am refraining from commenting sir, just reminding you about the acronym BARF, sir."

"i got it Fry..."

 

* * *

 

**SI**

**Virginia Potts Office**

For King T'Challa, it came to a surprise when the SI CEO Virginia Potts invited him over at her office. He was in the States actually, at the UN. It had been difficult to stand there and explain to other leaders, his behavior in Siberia, when not even a month ago he was among them. Shuri had advised him of this, and he did not listen. He had been a fool, an idiot. After all his sister always stood up for what was right, no matter what. He should have trusted her, and he did when she pushed him to accept the invitation, land an olive branch. He knew the principle of diplomacy was compromise, and if anything, this was a step in the right direction.

SI building was incredibly intimidating. However, more so were its employees that apparently were loyal to Stark, and had looked at him as if he was a criminal. And that, despite the politeness, had been palpable even to him.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Miss Potts, your highness, King T’Challa is here, and so is his harem, apparently.”

Pepper smiled at the clear despise her secretary was displaying “they are his entourage or more to the point his bodyguards, so don’t let them hear you, and please let them in!”

“Alright, but I still think they are his harem!” her secretary hung up, and seconds later the door opened.

Miss Potts office was intimidating. It was designed to be that way. The more fear and uneasiness it inspired the better. After all, she was a woman navigating a man’s world. Employee and business associates had to understand immediately who the boss was.

“Your Highness, it’s a pleasure to meet you in person, please have a seat. Would you like something to drink?”

“No, thank you”

“Would they…” indicating to the Doras

“no.” one of them answered definitively.

Pepper sat at her desk. Hands intertwined, leaning on the desk. Not at all defensive, one would say she was about to pounce. The Doras stayed calm however, while King T’Challa was staring at the woman.

“I hope Mr. Stark is recovering well?”

“Yes, he is thank you for asking, especially in light of what transpired with those videos. One could take that… personally.” She said leaning back in her chair, crossing her legs, and staring at the man in the eyes, almost daring him to say something.

He did not take the bait. Smart man, Pepper thought.

“Miss Potts, this invitation came to quite as a surprise to me, _especially_ in lieu of what has transpired. What this is about exactly?”

Pepper leaned forward, shoulders straight and looking the king in the eyes, she came to the point of the visit.

“Well I was hoping to ease the topic, but since you brought it up, this” Pepper slid a paper on her desk toward the king “it has come to mine and Dr. Stark's attention that the leak of those videos, came from an IP address in your country. Of course proving exactly who sent it, well, it's turning out to be quite the predicament, as you can imagine. Our AI, upon research found the signal, going from the release in Wakanda, to its origin. It bounced last here in the States, from the west to the east coast. And before that, Canada, Mexico, Alaska, Uruguay and then bounced in Europe for a while, then  China, Japan, Egypt, Montenegro, and the first ping  finally originated in Wakanda, which and correct me if I am wrong, it is your country…”

“That’s right. You are not insinuating that I…”

“In the light of the videos leaked and the fact that you are the Black Panther, and was on Dr. Stark side only to betray him at the end, and the fact that lately you have, shall we say, special guests staying under your protection, one cannot help to be suspicious...” T’Challa

“I think Miss Potts you are way in over your head…”

“Your highness, please, no unnecessary threats. This conversation is taking place in a full privacy mode. Now I do not have any ties to you, or to your guests…What happens to you, or them is nothing that i am ever going to care about. I have no qualms calling in what I know to the UN, even if that means sending THEM to their deaths and you in rpison.” Then she smirked leaning on the back of her chair “and what I am capable of, I hope for your sake you never have to find out. In the mean time I would like to ask you for a favor.”

“A favor?”

“That’s why I called you here. SI and Wakanda have a business relationship going on for years. Very profitable business for Wakanda, not really for SI. We can produce vibranium in the lab these days… No, it is in the name of the long standing mutual relationship that I ask that you keep an eye on the situation, with the understanding that if your guests are in any way, shape, or form involved in this, not even you will be able to protect them. Am I being clear?”

T’Challa sat frozen on his chair. Miss Potts knew how to inspire fear, and as the king and Black Panther, he should not feel that sense of impending doom. The Dora had taken a defensive stand behind him, but that seemed not to faze Miss Potts. And if the paper in his hand was true then there was someone in his country that either betrayed him or played him for a fool. And that would simply not do. As it turned out, and this was true, the he owed Stark and his CEO a lot more then mere gratitude.

“Miss Potts, I thank you for your information, and in the name of our long business relationship, I will look into it and keep you informed if ANYTHING of relevance turns up.”

“Well, thank you. I am sure I will see you again, your highness!” she said sitting up from her chair behind her desk.

He got up, nodded silently to Miss Potts, and then to the Doras and walked out of the office with them. Desire of revenge or more to the point avenge oozed off the woman. He felt it. This had to be dealt with a certain finesse that he was not sure he possessed.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Pepper Potts leaned back in her chair. Turned on the screen of her computer.

“Friday, did you do it?”

“Of course, Miss Potts… the codes are elaborating right now…”

“Good girl…” she smiled “Wakandan technology is the best technology, my flat behind. Video feed?”

“Couple of hours, Miss Potts.”

“Good, and how is our patient, Fry? Keeping himself out of trouble, i trust?”

 “Currently having a shower, Miss Potts.” Pepper nodded and looked at the time.

“Tell him I’ll be home in an hour top… Friday, about the Wakanda business, maximum reservation, please!”

“Of course, Miss Potts.”

 

 

* * *

 

**Stark tower**

**Dinner Time**

 

“Really Viz, that was… incredible…” Pepper said, almost chocking on the lie. She had a pretty good poker face, she had to in the years of being CEO of the biggest company in the world to exercise, but Viz creation was just dreadful.

Tony smirked at her reaction, and he whispered, hoping Viz was out of earshot “I told you to eat something before coming home." Then he looked at her with a smirk, like he had eaten a canary. For a second she was confused "So, how was His Pantherness today?"

“How did you?”

“Please Pepper, I know everything. You and Friday have been up to something since I came home. Moreover, Platypus can’t lie to save his life.  And I know you, so what have you been keeping from me?”

Pepper sighed. This wasn’t in her plans. She looked apologetically at Tony “Tony, I am so sorry, I just thought that it wasn’t important to have you upset over. You know Helen said no stress…”

“I know and please don’t be, I know what you have been trying to do, and I appreciate it. But I am fine. I can handle it.”

She sighed “The original source for the videos leaking was somewhere in Wakanda…” she waited for the rage explosion that she was sure was about to happen, instead Tony started laughing hysterically. So in turn, she did too.

“Well, that is so funny!”

“Tony? This… they may have had something to do with this…”

“oh, Pepper, no. This level of hacking… I could do it, hell did something like this in the past" he looked at her with a meaningful look. she had understood immediately: Ross. he sighed "no, it’s way too advanced for any of them. Not even Natasha on her best day could do this. This was premeditated. Methinks T’Challa has a boogie in his systems. And that is very dangerous” then he started laughing again “but so incredibly funny!”

“Friday is scanning their tech right now.” Pepper admitted.

“Ah, I knew this would happen, the women in my life conspiring behind my back…”

“I am sorry Tony… I should have told you.”

“Again it’s okay. Just do not go all avengers on this. I am not mad. The week without tech must have helped me. Look my hand is steady. Fry how is my blood pressure?

“135/75 boss”

“and my pulse?”

“Regular, 61 pulses per minute.”

“See I am fine, now.  I feel all of my limbs. Everything is fine. Plus I plan on tackling the stairs next week. I am sick and tired of the guest suit!”

“So am I. Tony I love you, you know that. I just didn’t want you…”

“I love you too…” he interrupted whatever rant she was about to go on. She looked at him almost surprised, but then a smile appeared.

“Good…”

“That is why I would not dare not be okay.” He said leaning in to kiss her.

At that moment Vision came around the corner “Tony, Miss Potts, would you care to try my new recipe for my nonfat tiramisù?”

They looked at him and each other, and laughed.

 

 

* * *

 

**Wakanda**

**Royal Palace**

“Well this is just great, isn’t it! We are harboring international criminals. You could be on trial for it and now the origin of those videos came from within our country. And you still insist on continuing with this?”

“Shuri… I have a moral responsibility…” he said as he was trying to convince himself of the truth of his words.

Shuri sighed, watching her brother struggle with such a simple matter. But she knew that Tony Stark had tried to reason with these people and failed, so she wasn’t about to waist her breathe. “I wonder, dear brother, if in Siberia, other than leaving Tony Stark, you didn’t live you spine too.”

“Think about it. As for myself I am glad that Mr. Stark recovered.” With that she left her brother study to make her way to her when she got cornered by miss Romanov. The Dora behind them took a defensive stand, until Shuri waved them off.

“Miss Romanov, what are you doing outside your quarters?”

“I was wondering about Mr. Stark, so I thought of coming to ask King T’Challa about it.”

“no need. My brother is rather busy right about now. But I can happily tell you that Mr. Stark is recovering rather well, which is about the only good news of the day. Now you can tell the others.” At that Natasha seemed to be relieved, which puzzled Shuri. Then again, Natasha Romanov had gotten out the quarters that T’Challa had assigned the group of fugitives. “Miss Romanov, correct if I am wrong, but didn’t my brother confine you in your quarters in the south wing?”

“Yes he did.”

“Then please, understand that I am not my brother and my patience dwindles every passing day. Am I being clear?”

“Yes. It’ll never happen again.” With that Natasha turned around to go back to her room. She had no intention telling the others about Tony just yet.

Inside her room, she sat on her bed and smiled. Maybe for the first time in years a few tears run down her cheeks. Because of what she had, and what she had lost no to knowing. What she could have but was too afraid to think about. And as her heart swelled because Tony was alive, it also broke because she knew now what she deep down had known for years.


	7. scenes from Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scene from Homecoming...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no, it's not a mirage i am back.  
> although i can't promise regular updates, because frankly life has been so chaotic for me, that at the end of the day even my muse was too tired to inspire anything out of me. i have enjoyed reading many fics in the mean time.  
> on the T'Challa side of things, the movie Black Panther, didn't change my mind at all. Wakanda forever my flat behind!  
> i know it's a filler chapter, and i don't know how i feel about it. but i wanted to go with Tony Stark's side of Homecoming and the BIG surprise that was Pepperony at the end, which i LOVED!!!  
> i want to reiterate that i am Italian so you, dear reader, are bound to find grammar errors and other type of mistakes that i will inevitably see, five second after i pushed the update button. good news is i will rectify them as i see them.  
> I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE CHAPTER AND THANK YOU SO MUCH TO TAKING THE TIME TO READ!!!! THANK YOU ALL FOR THE PATIENCE!!!

Pepper sat on the couch in the living room watching the news, mouth wide open in shock, while Tony sitting next to her, only half listening to the news, he was reading a brief from the UN Security Council. It felt like the hundred thousandth. He sighed without looking at the screen and completely unaware of Pepper reaction.

“Did you know about this kid?”

Tony looked at her first not knowing what she was talking about. Deer caught in the headlights come to mind. It was almost comical, until Tony looked at the screen, realized what she was on about, and sighed again and looked guiltily at her.

“Huh”

“Tony!” exasperated, Pepper turned towards him. He was not fooling her on bit.

He looked at the screen and sighed. Maybe he was not clear enough when he reiterated that Peter be a friendly, neighborly spiderling.

He took a deep breathe. It is not as if he lied to her. It was just that he was a little paranoid about the kid being barely a teenager. Now he knew this was the moment to come clean, so he put the brief on the coffee table, and took off his reading glasses, and looked at her “He is Spiderman” he said as a matter of fact kind of an answer. Which would have worked, if the new strip had the name in bold letters and going on repeat, while the tv showed, yet again another one of the spider-kid adventures.

“I know that and quit avoiding the question! Did you know about him? I mean who he really is underneath that spandex?”

“Huh… yes. And if you must know, I take offense at the spandex comment!” he said, putting aside the UN brief for whatever “talk” they were about to have.

She looked at him realizing that the spandex was a Tony Stark original “ugh…I can’t believe you!  How old is he anyway?”

“Huh”

“Tony?”

“Fifteen, he is fifteen!”

“Did you…ARE YOU CRAZY?” she yelled.

Tony sighed. He knew it was coming. The lecture. Yes, he admits getting a kid into the mix was most certainly the most irresponsible thing that he had ever done in his lifetime. Honestly, he did not think it would get so bad with team morons! He thought, and he was not the only one, that their brain capacity was superior then that of a hormone filled teenager. He was so sure that they would see reason. So sure, that they would argue, yes, and then they would stand down. It was a fucking airport for God’s sake!

Well, lesson learned and after a good ten minutes of Pepper rant, he had told her exactly that.

Pepper sighed, and apologized for yelling at him (it’s a new Pepper thing now. Apologizing for yelling. He planned to kick that particular new trait off Pepper soon enough! He actually loved to rile her up!).

That was the end of that particular conversation.

 

* * *

 

He actually came back to the hotel room, angry and frustrated. He had left Pepper to her beauty routine when he decided to go and look at the temple. He was not thinking wedding and anybody could not say otherwise! Then the kid…. Ugh. He sighed.

“Dammit!”

“Tony?” Pepper made her way out of the bathroom wearing only a bathrobe.

“Fucking damn-it!”

“Is there something wrong?! Tony what is it?” she was getting a little worried.

“That… that… kid!” he answered her frustrated. Vein pumping at the side of his neck.

“Spiderman?” she understood now, and she recognized the all too familiar worried face. How many times had she and Rhodey wore that particular shade, of worry, crossed with underlying anger towards whatever had caused Tony to be like that,  at any given time, on a certain obsession.

“Yes, how dare he? Do you know he almost drowned? I can’t… he, he disabled the training wheel protocol, that little shit!”

Now she was confused “Training wheel protocol?”

“Yes. Do you really think that I would give a suit of considerable power to a fifteen-year-old hormone riddled teenager? I did add some features, but they were blocked. How he did it, it’s mastery that I intend to fully uncover when we go back. Not even Natasha on her best day could have done it! He unblocked them, got in over his head, and almost got killed…How in the hell am I supposed not to stress out?” he took a deep breath and looked at her smirking “What? Why are you smirking like that?”

She shook her head in disbelief, only Tony, she thought. Then turned serious for a moment “Is the “kid” alright?”

“Yes, and I made sure to stress out the stupid behavior, thank you very much! Had there not been Wi-Fi… I can’t even think about the alternative!” he looked at her again, and she was smirking AGAIN “what is it with you?”

“Just enjoying you wearing my shoes for a while, that’s all…”

“Ha, ha, ha you are hilarious” a cackled escaped Pepper from her control “Are you making fun of me? I almost had a heart attack!” he said smirking at her, only for her to scowl at him “too soon?”

“Yes Tony, too soon! Just, do not… I can’t go through that again…” she said while hugging herself.

“I won’t. I promise.” He said as he sat next to her on the foot of the bed

“Good…” she said while he suddenly realized that the only thing convering her was a bath robe. He smirked.

“You know…. I can go up a full flight of stairs now without stopping to take a breathe…” he said suggestively…

Despite the seriousness of his health condition, she found herself smirking and playing along “Oh, can you now?” 

“Oh Yeah…” he said, leaning in.

 

* * *

 

She walked in the door, expecting Tony to be there, sitting on the couch, ready with every excuse in the book as to why he actually wore the suit, after he was specifically told not to.

Instead, she found Vision watching “alternative cooking” shows. She liked him all right, but there was no way she would be eating bugs, thank you very much.

Without having to ask, he just pointed to the staircase down the lab. She put her coat and brief case on the lounge chair and steeled herself for whatever she would find. The old Tony would be cooking up God knows what. A new passion, a new obsession. Instead, she found him sitting in his seldom-used leather sofa. A case with a familiar logo on it was sitting on the wooden coffee table.

“Tony?”

“I told him to give me the suit back…”

“I see”

“What was I thinking? Getting that much power in a teenager’s hands … what the hell was I thinking?”

She sighed. She hated seeing him this way, defeated, and sighing. She hated it.

“Tony, you wore the suit. You went out there conscious of what could happen to you, just to save him. Half of me is very proud of you, the other half,  wants to throttle you…”

“Pepper, I had to do it. I could not stand by and let people, innocent people die. There has been enough of that already… band practice indeed. He lied to me. Why?”

“Tony, he is a teenage boy, hormone riddled and brain dead, teenage boy. I suppose not very dissimilar to yourself, had you invented the suit much earlier”

“Do not even kid about that. Young Tony was not a good… anything… beside inventing of course…” he sighed again, shaking his head. He felt tired now. So much for Dr. Cho recommendation... “The kid didn’t ask for those powers, just like every other Inhuman out there. He feels important with them at his fingertips. When I told him that this will not do, and he had to give me back the suit, he said that I couldn’t because without it, he feels like nothing. It’s a slippery slope, Pep. That is the kind of reasoning that I am afraid still fueled our departed moronic Capitan & co. So I took his suit….” He fineshed talking, and Pepper leaned to give him a hug. “I still follow his every step, I can’t let him die…”

“he won’t die, he has you…”

“he wants to be an Avenger. The UN talks about extreme vetting. I am leaning towards agreeing with that. If he can’t deal with this, he has no business being one.” Tony said resolutely. “I just need to monitor him, so he doesn’t get killed…” he sighed again. He felt tired, and aching. Feeling the years for the first time since waking up after Siberia.

“Tony? Are you ok?”

“I feel fine, right Fry?” silence. “Fry?” Again, silence. He sighed again. He looked toward Pepper explaining, “She is not talking to me… she’s mad about me wearing the suit, she says it wasn’t necessary, and she is perfectly capable of flying one.” He said sarcastically. Him and his sentient AI, he thought.

 “I am perfectly capable of flying the suit, boss! And you taking the suit was not necessary!” the A.I. protested. “Miss Potts, Boss is fine, if not a little tired… which he wouldn’t be had he had listened to me, but what do I know?” and then the oleographic screen showed Tony’s blood pressure and pulse. He sighed, while Pepper smirked.

“you know Tony, I left the office fuming. And I was still fuming walking through the front door. But I think Friday’s scorn is more than enough… come on, lets order in… oh and what do you think about eating bugs?” she said kidding. He looked at her confusedly.  She should be furious, yelling his ears out, but she knew that whatever she could have said to him, he knew already and she chose to trust him to know what id the best for himself and his health. Granted he stops caring and she would kill him.

Together they started walking up the stairs, when Pepper asked him “you would never eat bugs, would you?”

 

* * *

 

 

They were sprawled in bed, both deliciously exhausted by the earlier activities. Pepper sighed. The official proposal, the one that was announced at the press conference seriously sucked.

The unofficial one, the one that only the two of them knew about had been incredibly romantic and fun.

This is a side of Tony that only she, would ever get to see for the rest of their lives, she thought while playing with her engagement ring.

 “Look at you…”

“What do you mean…”

“You just look very proud of yourself, that’s all…things are actually going well…”

“Yes, they are, aren’t they? And thanks for not outing me with the press and accepting the proposal. It would have been very uncomfortable other ways….”

“I liked tonight’s proposal…” she said, looking at him.

 “I thought you might…” and now he looked pensive, as if he instantly sobered up “Tony what is it?”

He took a deep breathe, “I have had a checkup with Dr. Cho this morning… I have a slight arrhythmia, and she does not like it, so she wants me to get a peacemaker, we have looked into it, but it’s not feasible for me with the damage my rib cage has already sustained. The amount of extremis after Siberia did a little, but the hole is still there… so I was thinking that I am going to have invent something myself. Only thing, it will probably look similar to the arc reactor, but not likely to kill me in case of a dysfunction…”

She looked at him. He wasn’t too worried, he didn’t look haunted. Pepper looked in his eyes and sighed “Alright…”

“I have found one of my old pet project from MIT, and I think I can work with that and the steps that today’s technology has taken, I think I can do it… “

“I see… but if you took the same amount of extremis that you injected on me…”

“No, I love you Pepper, but no. I cannot use that. I don’t even know what effects the amounts that I have in my body has on me…”

“Tony…”

“Let me try it my way, ok? If doesn’t work, then we’ll see about that extremis.”

“Fine… you know that I love you right?” she said looking into his eyes in search of the security he seldom had for anything. What she found was pure and 100% trust and love. It had always been there, she realized from the very start.

“I gathered that, and I love you too...” he leaned in for a kiss.

He could do this all day he thought, having Pepper in his arms. After all that had happened, he still felt damn lucky.

 

* * *

 

Wakanda

They were gathered around the tv, watching the press conference begin, with trepidation. What could Tony Stark possibly have to say at a press conference like that, if not something about them. The rogues, ex-avengers, international criminals…they had been called every name in the book.

They had been shocked to see Pepper there. Last they knew, Tony and Pepper were broken up.

Little did they imagine that they were not only back together, but as they watched the screen incredulously, they were now engaged to be married, ring and all… the announcement to the press was carried out with the usual Tony Stark enthusiasm. the journalists there went crazy with questions…

“Mr. Stark, Ms Potts, first of all congratulations, and now the question, why did you wait for so long? We were beginning to think it was never going to happen?”

“I’ll take this one, Tony if you don’t mind?” he looked at her and made the gesture for her to go on. ” well you not alone believe me” that gathered the laughs, of the journalists present. “I think we were both busy and distracted by other things in our life to think about marriage, but now that things have calmed down with SI and, with the status of the avengers, that we thought it would be the perfect time, right Honey?”

“Absolutely!”

“Any other questions?” a bunch of arms shot in the air. With a smirk, Pepper added, “I mean about the engagement?”

“I think, Pepper dear, they are done…. There is food and refreshments to celebrate, so people have fun! And thank you all for coming!” he said with his arms around Pepper. Laughing and radiant they looked at the camera, and the uncharacteristically they kissed.

The press conference was over and the journalists took over to comment and expand on the subject “it seems like the avengers as they were, are very far from Tony Stark’s mind, wouldn’t you agree?”

“yes, absolutely, and with all the trouble that they caused, and everything that went on with Mr. Stark’s health we are just so very happy for them, and now Claudia on you for the weather…”

“Oy, Steve do you think they’ll send us wedding invitations?” Scott asked sarcastically. The question hung in the air, as Scott got up, and walked out, shaking his head at his own stupidity.

 

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here we go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am not sure about this chapter frankly. it's long, and itg made sense in italian. i hope is decent in English ( I REAPEAT I AM ITALIAN, ENGLISH ISN'T MY FIRSTLENGUAGE, SO I AM VERY SORRY!)  
> there might be a little bit of a spoiler, and since i didn't like it one bit, it's probably going to be true especially seeing the trailer. i know i am going to get upset, hell i am already upset, so go figure.
> 
> i am so sorry if you find mistakes on the chapter but like always, i find them after i upload the chapter... so bear with me please...
> 
> i want to thank all the people that read and left Kudos, and all the people that left a review... you guys are amazing, i just hope it was a decent read! :)
> 
> now onto the chapter!

 

**Nine Months later… (a year after Siberia)**

**SI Press Room**

 

Tony sat on his “make up” chair waiting for the call. This was the first interview, one on one, that he is doing since God knows how long. There was an anxiety attached to him, as of this morning, thanks to Rhodey.

If he did not know better, he would say that Wanda had gotten to him all the way from Wakanda, and scrambled his brain cell, leaving them a puddle of goo.

How did he think that he would ever welcome THEM back, it was beyond him. Pepper would commit him in a psychiatric clinic and throw the lot of them out.

Colonel Rhodes, now the proud owner of two working, functioning legs ( and then some! Thank you ever so much!) had asked him to vote in the council for the Rogues pardon AND he wanted Tony to house them in the compound. HIS compound, well, his and Pepper’s because really she was the one to give him the idea of it becoming a sanctuary for those kids, like Peter, that found themselves marginalized by society and also by their own families. It was full of enhanced people there, with different “talents”.

Oddly enough, none of them had tried to kill him.

Tony’s answer had been a resounding no, with a “over my dead body” from Pepper, with a dash of “have lost your mind?” as she passed through the living room in search of her briefcase.

There were rules, as some of these kids were still minors. Curfew, for one. RULES, that the rogue had refused to even consider, rules that protected the Rogues, and were now protecting these kids.

Rules that were not only followed but reinforced by those that, being adults, had been evaluated and registered and were now being housed by yours truly. Adults that had jobs, and careers, and that for their own safety choose to renounce having their own place, in favor of somewhere where it didn’t matter who you were or what your talent was. You were accepted. Somewhere they could train.

And what a training facility it was, thanks to BARF technology and the likes.

Tony had told Rodhey just that and that in no way they would be coming back to the new and improved compound. He had been clear and he thought Rhodey had understood his point of you.

However, as of this morning, when the voting lists had been released to public with the various negotiations that went on, Rhodes came to him and decided to throw the best temper tantrum that an adult that had experienced what he had, a colonel mind you, could ever put on.

Thus Tony’s suspect of Wanda having something to do with it.

It had ended with possibly the worst fight that they ever had.

Tony thought, there was no way he would welcome scum back, not even for Rhodes. He was tired of having things pushed down his throat for the sake of whatever. That was that!.

But his morning had been thrown off course so he felt anxious about it.

He had accepted the meetings with T’Challa as unavoidable but the boy, oh boy, his Panterness didn’t have his father poise or know how, that had put Wakanda back in the international stage in the first place, and any knowledge of how to play politics… well he was still a little bit naïve.

His idea weren’t bad, he was actually liking them, until he prospected the possibility of the rogues being back at the compound with Tony acting in a tutelage capacity to let them train in the new and improved compound. He took a hard look round the table, looked back at His Royal Kittiness, and answered with a resounding and absolute “NO!”

The other delegates had understood and threw and side-glance to the new King.

Then, after weeks of negotiations and pain, mostly Tony’s, the Accords were finally signed, during a livestream broadcasted from the UN website.

That was yesterday. He looked at himself in the mirror, noticing now small changes. He had his color back, his hair, before thinning and graying now was full, less lines on his face and a good night sleep, with a teensy bit of extremis, and his brand new chest plate worth billions of dollar, he was practically forty again, even though fifty was almost here.

He thought of Pepper and how she was the one to help him come to the decision of selling the tower, the big A, towering over New York, now just a memory.

To make a home out of the old family mansion. He smiled. Just this bit of hurdle, then Thanos and if  he’d made it out alive, he had decided to retire Iron Man once and for all. Let the new generations fight the good fight. He trusted them.

He thought about them, thought of Harley, of Peter and of all the others…Now, and only now,  he felt proud and calm ready to face the world with his head held high.

 

* * *

 

 

**Wakanda**

**The Rogues common room**

Steve sat between Natasha and Clint, on the sectional sofa. Next to Clint, Wanda. Next to Natasha, sat Sam whose legs seemed to be unable to stop moving, he was so nervous. Scott sat next to Sam on an armchair.

The news had reached them in the middle of the night that the UN had reached a compromise regarding the accords and its contents. Rumor, also, had it that in the accords there were regulations regarding the Inhumans (which made Wanda arch her eyebrow in interest/distaste because of Stark) and the rogues. T’Challa had called them all in the common room, because none other than Tony stark himself, as the face of the old avengers, and the founder of the new ones, was asked by the UN unanimously to give an interview talking and explaining the accords to the public.

They knew that he participated on emendating the new accords with the Security Council, for the US. T’Challa had been meeting with Tony a few times. However all they knew was that Tony had been civil toward the Wakandan king. Nothing more, nothing less.  Before going, Shuri had told T’Challa not to expect too much out of a meeting with him. She had been right, Tony had been civil, but cold.

Leaving somebody behind in the cold of Siberia, that’ll do to the end of any kind of social relations.

The Wakandan anchor was now explaining what to expect from this interview in exclusive to Tony Stark, in fact the first interview of the hero that “stayed”, after the so-called “civil war”, and that did not run like the cowards that the rogues definitely had been.

“We are pleased now to announce, from New York, Christine Everhart, interviewing live Dr. Tony Stark…”

The screen changed, and there sat in an Armani suit, Tony Stark.

Visible were the salt and pepper of the goatee and his sharply cut hair, although he seemed to have less wrinkles overall. He had lost a lot of weight, Natasha noticed. A heart attack will do that to you.

 

* * *

 

 

_Ms. Everhart, dressed in a blue pantsuit, sat there smiling “So, I am so glad that you accepted to do this interview…”_

_“Thanks, I am glad to be here…it’s been a while since I have done this so…”_

_“I am sure you’ll be fine… So first question how is your health?”_

_Tony looked at her and smiled “well, I am alive, so that’s something…” he smirked “I had a heart attack, which is not news to me. It was always an underlying possibility, given my condition and the surgeries that I underwent in the years following Afghanistan. All things considered I am fine …” he chuckled._

The Rogues looked at each other as if what Tony was saying, was news to them…

_“I am glad to hear it. Now, onto the more difficult questions… you were asked by the President to conduct the negotiation for the US and the new rooster of the Avengers, correct?”_

“new rooster of the Avengers, my ass!” yelled Clint at the TV.

“Burton, shut up! I want to hear this!” said Sam giving Clint the sideye.

_“Yes. Correct….”_

_“I feel though, you did so much more than that.”_

_“well, what can I say, when I work on something, I work on it wholeheartedly and quite frankly there were a lot of gray areas in the first version of the accords that I didn’t like so...”_

_“You signed them though.”_

_“Despite that, yes.”_

_“Why?”_

_“It was important to be a part of the discussion that the UN was having, especially after what went through with Ultron and all the innocent victims, and damages… it was important not only to be a part of the conversation, but also listen to those that were desperately asked to be listened to.”_

_“You mentioned Ultron, but now we know what really went on, do you still feel guilty about it? Is that why you signed the accords in the first place?”_

_“I can’t deny that I was, I am, and I will always be feeling guilty about that. It was irresponsible not to anticipate something going wrong, not having extreme measures in place to stop what happened from happening. You know when you have an alien God, two spies, somebody that lived in the forties who thinks that a flip phone is the peak of technologies and a Hulk, coming to dinner, you have to anticipate the impossible, and I didn’t so, yeah. Then the idea of the accords came. The first draft was restrictive, in terms of what, when and where the avenger could do. However, it was emended, and unbelievably, the version that I signed was a lot better than the first one. Then it was emended again, and again. It was better. It was and it is a way for accountability, not only for the Avengers rooster, but also for the many governments now that signed the accords!”_

_“I see, but that meant working with Ross? I mean after what happened with Dr. Banner”_

_“Before I answer the question, I would like to clarify something. One person, is Thaddeus Ross and is currently in prison; another different person entirely is Everett Ross, who was an ex CIA Operative, and now a consultant for the accords. I see people mixing them up, and they are not even related, so be aware of that not so little detail. Now about the question, to have a seat at the table were your future is being discussed, was fundamental, and if it meant having to deal with, again, Thaddeus Ross was the only way to do it, then so be it… it was after all a very temporary gig he was doing, as we got to see months ago… As for Dr. Banner, I haven’t seen him since Ultron happened, so…”_

The Rogues were eerily silent.

Thinking about it, Scott understood finally what Tony was trying to do. Moreover, he understood why he did not dumb it down for the others to make them understand. they should have known better! he should have known better!.  If only Steve should have trusted him to do what he does best.

_“Let’s talk about the so called “civil war”?”_

“Yes, let’s what he has to say about it! Bastard!” Clint yelled again.

_”yes, let’s. I am not naming any names, but some of the old rooster of the Avengers felt that compromising with Ross was not to be done, that the accords, were a waste of time… so on and so forth. But the so called “civil war” had very little to do with the accords in and of itself, I have come to realize. It had more to do, I think with the fact that I was the one presenting them to the team… and of course Sargent Barnes…”_

_“Let’s examine what the Accords is going to mean for the average citizen…”_

_“Well this is going to be a long answer… if we start from the concept that the idea of an invasion not happening again after the Chitauri and Loki, was and still  is unrealistic. We know now that we are not alone in the universe, and that the Earth, for a reason or another, could become a victim of an invasion by aliens…” he took a deep breath and started explaining the idea “we know that it’s not just about the US in this planet. The US lives and breathe in a global context that must be taken into consideration. In addition, the idea that a group of six/eight people was going to cut it is absurd. They cannot be in two places at the same time, so we need more, more teams. Each stationed and each protecting their own country. So we have the US rooster, a Canadian one, a Mexico one. Brazil, France has one, Japan, China, UK, Italy, each with their own team of avengers that operates within their sovereign territory, with the possibility of help, if requested by the sovereign authority of, that or this, nation in need. Each team is coordinated with regulations about admissions of members, evaluations by said accords council, from article 6 through 15, which it doesn’t seem a whole lot of regulation, but we are talking of about 96-98 pages of regulations by the council. The first five article constitutes the GLOBAL SECURITY COUNCIL, which is different from the UN Security Council. In addition, it also institutes another organization that has the authority to coordinate each team, each Angers rooster, and deal with the tech needed and the accommodation of every team, training of members, which is the new SHIELD. Each country has their own Shield Agency, and each of them are under the umbrella not of the US, but the new global Shield agency that is under the umbrella of the Global Security council. Therefore, it’s not under just one government and obviously it’s not going to be about politics. The difference is that within the Global Security Counsel, its members don’ have veto power. It’s one nation, one vote, and it deliberates almost always unanimously, if you can’t do that, whatever it’s voted on has to be worked on really hard to make it the best for the nations involved and in the end, the Earth as a planet and humanity”_

_“In the aftermath of the civil war, some of your detractors said that the accords would make of the avengers, mercenaries, to be sent to do a nation, in this case, the U.S. bidding. Now, I ask what kind of choice the member of a rooster has about doing a mission. Can they refuse?”_

_“Well, seeing that they are not gun for hire by government, they can, because they might not feel comfortable with it. Let’s be clear. They are not super soldiers. They are like you, and me, and the sensibility of each member is taken into consideration. Obviously, they can very well qualify and not be in the active roster, but ready  just in case of something big coming. They will be dormant members. They can have their own careers, for example. They can live by themselves; this is not a call to arms…”_

_“Most of them are Inhumans…”_

_“I prefer the term enhanced people, frankly. They are perfectly human; they just have abilities, talents beyond what a normal person, again like you and me have. In addition, those talents exhists simply because of chance, destiny, whatever you want to call it. We had no idea, when Loki came to our planet this would happen. Nevertheless, it did. I want to stress this. Joining the Avengers rooster is voluntary. They can resign, retire, and have their record expunged so that no one can know about their involvement with the Avengers. That is why there is a no names policy. It is on code basis essentially for everyone. You sign the accords, you register, but no names are ever written. No social security, nothing like that. This is to protect the identity of the people that decide to make the sacrifice to protect our planet. Again, this is the articles 15 -16 and 17 of the accords” Tony leaned on the side table to sip the water prepared for him, while Ms. Everhart was checking her notes._

_“We all saw the videos… we all so what transpired, and why. Do you think… is there anything that might redeem the situation? I mean, do you see a future for Rogues in the current rooster? In the event they came back?”_

_“well, funny you ask that, but first thing that was said, between Russia, Germany and France and of course Sokovia and Hungary and more and more nations were agreeing to this, was that they were international criminals and therefore to be treated as a terrorist organization in and of itself. Then an evolution of thinking were starting to take place, mostly thanks to the influence that King T’Challa had in the conversations. It then changed and the new idea that was amply discussed was to give them a way to come back safely, for the civilians, to the right side of the law, without denying their crimes, but instead paying for them, being at the service of humanity as a whole. It was voted on five or six times before it passed under article 18 of the accords. You can read the whole thing, as is readily downloadable in Pdf format on the UN web site. Even a monkey could do it. It’s very easy. Just saying if they are watching…” Tony looked at the camera._

_“Can you expand on article 18 and what it entails practically?”_

_“Well, essentially is a back door. Instead of turning themselves in, or being captured by the Interpol or, any kind of civil or military international or even national authority, this too was on the table by the way, they can call the phone number written within the article. It is direct line to the new U.S. Shield Agency. There is a department only for that. An officer will answer and consequently will organize their return to the US soil. At which point they will not be taken to the Avengers compound, but they will be guests of the new U.S. Agency that Shield is today…”_

_“why the US agency….”_

_“Jurisdiction wise, it was a pickle of epic proportion because of the victims and the injured that were hurt during Leipzig and Sokovia and of course all the other nations involved. We must have discussed a whole lot, voted on at least ten times, and the decision, that it would be the US, was King T’Challa’ s idea… it was again voted on and it’s now in the accords…”_

_“I have here the voting record. Transparency and all of that and it was a unanimous vote, except you abstained… why?”_

_“well, I know the concept can be a little bit vague to some people, but conflict of interest comes to mind, and it didn’t feel right voting on it… so I abstained.”_

_“You said no to your compound. Why not the compound? You built a new one and from the brief visit that you allowed us, it is spacious enough…”_

_“when rebuilding the compound it occurred to me, thanks to Pepper, that there are a whole lot of young adults, or even teenagers dealing with abilities that no one else has. Because of that, we have been seeing a spike of discriminations cases, and even violence towards those that really have no responsibility in having the powers that they have. So we thought that the compound, could be also some kind of sanctuary were they could study, go to school and became functioning people outside of the Avengers business… think of it as a college campus. In addition, if the rogue are smart enough and decide to come back, they will have to undergo a series of evaluations, training and the like, before even thinking of being an active team. If and when they sign the accords, if and when they surpass the evaluation they, within themselves will be a team on its own… where and when they’ll be called, it’s not my call to make. it’s on the council, and the US Shield Agency…”_

_“For now, you are team leader of your own team, correct?”_

_“No, I am not. Actually, Colonel Rhodes is team leader. I am just a consultant. My position within the team per se has not changed because of this. I was not trained to do this, so I feel like it wouldn’t be right…”_

_“So, could Mr. Rogers become team leader of its own team?”_

_“Again this is not my call to make; it’s on the council and the US Shield Agency…”_

_“You talked about enhanced people, what about Wanda Maximoff?”_

_“Miss Maximoff, walked into a hydra base, and asked for her abilities. It was no incident of why she got them… I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. Whether she is fit for the avengers or not, it is not my call. I know that I am not going out in the field with her, because, whatever she must feel for me, I assure you and her, if is she’s watching, is entirely mutual!”_

_A pause, while Miss Everheart was digesting this. She looked down on her notes, looked at Tony and asked him the next question._

_“Let’s talk about the tech…SI is still going to be giving out upgrades?”_

_“The way we structured the new Shield Agency, it provides its own R &D department that will give out upgrades on suits, weaponry, and training techniques, of each rooster.  The civil and military authorities also, allowing to work in a system of global cooperation in protecting the population. Within the Shied R&D department, there is a very brilliant team of engineers, physicists, biochemists. The best minds that we have globally, right now. SI is taking the rout of prosthetics and medical technology… there may be a time occasionally when one of my design will make its way to the aforementioned department, but they will work on that. Not to forget the future of clean energy department, in which I am very determined to make a reality and a success globally, so that we can finally leave carbon based energy finally in the past…”_

_“Well, it’s sounds all very straight forward. Moreover, I hope it was clear for all of our viewers. If you could send a message to the rogue?”_

_“Well, my message is to download the new version of the accords, read them, call the number, and from there onward, reminding them that they are NOT exactly being pardoned, but just saying it’s a way to start making amends… “_

_“Well thanks Dr. Stark for your explanation. The Accords will be downloadable along with a non-technical language version, without the legalese, at the UN web site, thank again Dr. Stark. To all of the viewers thank for your attention.”_

_Both looking at the camera, while it faded to the news anchor that started asking questions at a panel of experts._

 

* * *

 

 

The rogues were lost in a defining silence. Tony Stark had done it. The Accords were a reality that they were going to have to contend with, whether they liked it or not.

Scott, all of the sudden got up from the armchair, looked at the “team”, sighed and went back to his room. It appeared he had a lot to read about and possibly make a phone call of his own, this ended now at least for him.

Entering his room, he immediately fired up his Stark pad, onto the browser, the UN website, there in the first page, was the link to download the accords, and while the internet did his job, he leaned back in his seat.

He thought that if it was true that the only Stark stipulation was that they were to stay away from the compound, instead of opposing it strongly, then it was fine for him. He would apologize for his part, and maybe built him a statue because thanks to Stark (and T’Challa) he was going home.

Maybe Hope and Cassie would forgive him for the hell he was sure he put them through and if Clint was a smart person, he should start thinking about going home too.

 

 


End file.
